Background: The psychological impact of abortion is a controversial issue.
While some studies indicate that women who had elective abortions present
lower psychological distress when compared with those who had spontaneous
or therapeutic abortions, other studies found abortion to be associated with significant
psychological distress. Objectives: To assess psychological adjustment
(emotional disorder, trauma symptoms and couple relationship) one and six
months after abortion, and gender differences regarding psychological adjustment,
and to assess the moderation role of couple relationship in the effect of
the etiology of abortion on emotional disorder and trauma symptoms. Methods:
Women (n=50) with different etiologies of abortion agreed to participate, as well
as 15 partners (N=65). Assessments took place one and six months after abortion.
Measures included the Brief Symptoms Inventory, the Impact of Event
Scale-Revised and the Relationship Questionnaire. Results: A decrease in emotional
disorder for all etiologies of abortion and an increase in perceived quality
of couple relationship in therapeutic abortion were observed over time. Couple
relationship moderates the effect of the etiology of abortion on trauma symptoms
one month after abortion. Conclusion: Psychological adjustment after
abortion seems not to be exclusively related to its etiology...

An epidemiological study was carried out on 2823 cows from 34 dairy herds from Goiania in the State of Goias-Brazil during 2001 to 2002. The pregnancy rate was 47.8%. In 1473 non-pregnant cows, causes of reproductive failure problems were sought. The most prevalent uterine infection was endometritis (17.0%). Uterine disorders such as partial hypoplasia of the genital system (0.04%), macerate fetus (0.01%), adhesion of ovaries (0.04%), stillbirth (0.04%), retained placenta (0.01%), cervix inflammation (0.6%) and abortion (0.88%) also were found. Uterine swabs were collected aseptically for microbiological culture. Gram positives cocci (41.3%) and Gram negatives rods (52.6%) were found, and Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most prevalent pathogens. Susceptibility patterns of microorganisms suggested the use of chloramphenicol, gentamicin and neomycin for antimicrobial therapy.

Infectious abortion is a significant cause of reproductive failure and economic losses in cattle. The goal of this study was to detect nucleic acids of several infectious agents known to cause abortion including Arcanobacterium pyogenes, Bovine Herpesvirus 1, Brucella abortus, Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis, Chlamydophila abortus, Leptospira sp., Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella sp., Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma bovigenitalium, Neospora caninum, and Tritrichomonas foetus. Tissue homogenates from 42 fetuses and paraffin-embedded tissues from 28 fetuses and 14 placentas/endometrium were included in this study. Brucella abortus was detected in 14.2% (12/84) of the samples. Salmonella sp. DNA was amplified from 2 fetuses, and there was one positive for Neospora caninum, and another for Listeria monocytogenes. This PCR-based approach resulted in identification of the etiology in 19% of samples, or 20% if considered fetal tissues only.

Bacterial leaf blight of eucalyptus is initially characterized by water soaked, angular, amphigenous and interveinal lesions, concentrated along the main vein, at the edges or scattered on the leaf blade. As the disease progresses, the lesions become brown to pale, and when young leaves are infected leaf cut areas at the edges or perforations at the center of the lesions may appear due to abortion of the necrotic area. Eventually, necrosis may be found on petiole and twigs. Leaf fall commonly occurs on highly susceptible genotypes due to the early senescence of diseased leaves. Precise diagnosis is accomplished by bacterial exudation from leaf sections placed in a water drop under light microscope (200 x). Twenty-five bacterial isolates from Amapá (2), Bahia (4), Minas Gerais (2), São Paulo (9), Pará (3), Mato Grosso do Sul (1), and Rio Grande do Sul (4) States, which induced hypersensitive reaction (HR) in non-host plants and were pathogenic to eucalyptus, when inoculated by inoculum injection, were identified by biochemical assays, using carbon sources (MicroLogTM BIOLOG) and sequence analysis (16S rDNA). Ten isolates were identified as Xanthomonas axonopodis, four as X. campestris, four as Pseudomonas syringae, two as P. putida...

"Haemophilus somnus" has been identified in the etiology of bovine abortion on the basis of the isolation of the organism from aborted fetal and placental tissues. To investigate the role of hematogenous dissemination of "H. somnus" in the pathogenesis of abortion and to monitor the humoral immune response to infection, 19 pregnant cows (gestation ages, 1.4 to 7 months) were challenged intravenously (11 cows) or intrabronchially (8 cows). Five cows challenged intravenously aborted, and one cow challenged intrabronchially resorbed her fetus. "H. somnus" was isolated in large numbers from aborted tissues, and placental lesions were similar to those reported in a field case of "H. somnus" abortion. Antibody titers in serum were measured by the microagglutination test (MAT) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A response to challenge was measured by MAT; it was also measured by ELISA within the immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1), IgG2, and IgM isotypes. On comparison of pre- and postchallenge antibody titers, the greatest and most persistent response was detected within the IgG2 isotype. Prechallenge antibody titers (measured by MAT and by IgG2 ELISA) were lower in animals that aborted than in normal calving animals, indicating that IgG2 antibody may have a role in limiting hematogenous dissemination of "H. somnus."

An increase in extremely skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) (⩾90%) among women who experienced recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) has been previously reported. To further delineate the etiology of this association, we have evaluated XCI status in 207 women who experience RSA. A significant excess of trisomic losses was observed among the women who had RSA with skewed XCI versus those without skewed XCI (P=.02). There was also a significant excess of boys among live births in this group (P=.04), which is contrary to expectations if the cause of skewed XCI was only that these women carried X-linked lethal mutations. To confirm the association between skewed XCI and the risk of trisomy, an independent group of 53 women, ascertained on the basis of a prenatal diagnosis of trisomy mosaicism, were investigated. Only cases for which the trisomy was shown to be of maternal meiotic origin were included. The results show a significantly higher level of extreme skewing (⩾90%) in women whose pregnancies involved placental trisomy mosaicism (17%) than in either of two separate control populations (n=102 and 99) (P=.02 compared with total control subjects). An additional 11 cases were ascertained on the basis of one or more trisomic-pregnancy losses. When all women in the present study with a trisomic pregnancy (n=103) were considered together...

An infectious microorganism, identified as Listeria monocytogenes, has been isolated from the bloodstream of pregnant mice fed a diet containing Pinus ponderosa needles. When the isolate was injected into pregnant mice, reproductive dysfunction and other changes, including speckled livers, spleen atrophy, and hemorrhagic intestines, appeared to mimic the signs of the disease in pregnant mice fed pine needles. Moreover, these pathological changes are similar to those observed in cattle and other mammals experiencing abortions or toxemia, or both, attributed to the ingestion of P. ponderosa needles, suggesting that L. monocytogenes may be a part of the etiology of "pine needle abortion."

One hundred three women with prior histories of recurrent spontaneous abortion and 81 of their mates were karyotyped with Q-banding during 1976-1980. Recurrent abortion was defined as two or more spontaneous pregnancy losses; no couple with a previous malformed fetus or child was included. These cases were reviewed in order to examine the possible contributions of minor polymorphic chromosomal variants and major chromosomal abnormalities to recurrent spontaneous pregnancy loss. Balanced translocations were detected in four women and two men in the study; mosaic X aneuploidy was noted in one woman. Quantitative (1 qh, 9qh, 16qh, Yqh) and qualitative (3c, 4c, 13p, 13s, 14p, 14s, 15p, 15s, 21p, 21s, 22p, 22s) heterochromatic polymorphisms were blindly assessed and compared with a control group. Cases and controls did not differ in the frequency of any qualitative polymorphisms or in the length of any quantitative polymorphism. Thus, while major parental cytogenetic aberrations are significantly associated with fetal wastage, these data suggest that minor polymorphic chromosomal variants do not play an important role in the etiology of recurrent spontaneous abortion.

The serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc and iron and of nitric oxide, retinol, and β-carotene were determined in Sakiz ewes that had experienced an abortion and in healthy controls. Ten healthy and 25 aborted Sakiz sheep were selected from Afyon zone in western Turkey. Their ages ranged between 2 and 4 years weighing between 40 and 60 kg at the time of experiment. All of the abortions occurred in October. The concentrations of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus, and zinc were significantly lower and those of calcium and nitric oxide were increased in aborted ewes relative to healthy controls. The serum levels of iron, copper, and magnesium were not significantly different among the two groups. In conclusion, abortion is an important problem in commercially important species of ruminants in many regions in the tropics including of western Turkey. Deficiencies of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus and zinc, and the increase of calcium and nitric oxide concentration may play an important role in the etiology of abortion in ewes. Prophylactic measures such as vitamin and mineral supplementation may be of help to prevent or reduce the incidence of abortion in sheep.

Bovine abortion of unknown infectious etiology still remains a major economic problem. Thus, we investigated whether Brucella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and Coxiella burnetii are associated with abortion and/or stillbirth in Tunisian dairy cattle. Using a pan-Chlamydiales PCR, we also investigated the role of Chlamydiaceae, Waddlia chondrophila, Parachlamydia acanthamoebae and other members of the Chlamydiales order in this setting. Veterinary samples taken from mid to late-term abortions from twenty dairy herds were tested. From a total of 150 abortion cases collected, infectious agents were detected by PCR in 73 (48.66%) cases, 13 (8.66%) of which represented co-infections with two infectious agents. Detected pathogens include Brucella spp (31.3%), Chlamydiaceae (4.66%), Waddlia chondrophila (8%), Parachlamydia acanthamoebae (5.33%), Listeria monocytogenes (4.66%) and Salmonella spp. (3.33%). In contrast, Campylobacter spp. and Coxiella burnetii DNA were not detected among the investigated veterinary samples. This demonstrates that different bacterial agents may cause bovine abortion in Tunisia. This is the first report suggesting the role of Parachlamydia acanthamoebae in bovine abortion in Africa. Further studies with a larger number of samples are necessary to confirm whether this emerging pathogen is directly linked to abortion in cattle.

Bacterial leaf blight of eucalyptus is initially characterized by water soaked, angular, amphigenous and interveinal lesions, concentrated along the main vein, at the edges or scattered on the leaf blade. As the disease progresses, the lesions become brown to pale, and when young leaves are infected leaf cut areas at the edges or perforations at the center of the lesions may appear due to abortion of the necrotic area. Eventually, necrosis may be found on petiole and twigs. Leaf fall commonly occurs on highly susceptible genotypes due to the early senescence of diseased leaves. Precise diagnosis is accomplished by bacterial exudation from leaf sections placed in a water drop under light microscope (200 x). Twenty-five bacterial isolates from Amapá (2), Bahia (4), Minas Gerais (2), São Paulo (9), Pará (3), Mato Grosso do Sul (1), and Rio Grande do Sul (4) States, which induced hypersensitive reaction (HR) in non-host plants and were pathogenic to eucalyptus, when inoculated by inoculum injection, were identified by biochemical assays, using carbon sources (MicroLogTM BIOLOG) and sequence analysis (16S rDNA). Ten isolates were identified as Xanthomonas axonopodis, four as X. campestris, four as Pseudomonas syringae, two as P. putida...

The spontaneous abortion (SA) is characterized as a loss of fetal product before 20 weeks of gestation and its etiology has not completely understood. Numerous studies have shown that polymorphisms in the gene of the enzyme metilenotetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) are involved in susceptibility to AE. Then, the present study was conducted to evaluate the polymorphisms 677C>T and 1298A>C MTHFR gene and their associations in susceptibility to spontaneous abortion in a sample of women in the South of Brazil in a casecontrol approach. Ninety-eight women with SA (cases) and two hundred and twenty-seven healthy women with no history of miscarriage (controls) were studied. Genotyping of MTHFR677C>T and MTHFR1298A>C polymorphisms were analyzed by allele discrimination with TaqMan?? pre-designed probes in Real Time PCR. The results showed that there was not difference in the distribution of allelic and genotypes frequencies of MTHFR677C>T and MTHFR1298A>C SNPs between cases and control group. It was observed an
increase in the risk of SA in relation to genotype THFR1298CC when compared to genotype MTHFR1298AA (RR: 1,13 95%CI: 1,04; 1,23; p=0.02). Moreover, the classification of the type of abortion is different between genotypes of MTHFR1298A>C polymorphism (p = 0.03). In the control group...

This study aimed to describe management and implementation of care for women hospitalized due to an abortion, from the perspective of nursing professionals. A qualitative study performed in an obstetric hospital unit of a University Hospital in the extreme South of Brazil, by means of a semi-structured interview with 19 nursing professionals. For the analysis, the Collective Subject Discourse technique was used. The statements were ambivalent. Some nursing professionals reported interference in discriminatory behavior and little interaction with the woman, resulting in care being organized with a focus on clinical aspects. Others considered care to be appropriate, regardless of the etiology of abortion, pointing out some humanized initiatives such as emotional support and provision of a private therapeutic environment. This research broadens the range of information about the management and implementation of care for women hospitalized due to abortion, highlighting the importance of articulating perceptions, feelings and ethical behavior with actions to plan, manage and provide care.

The infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma cruzi, Rubella virus, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Treponema pallidum, can reach the fetus via the placenta or transamniótica may cause different damage. The severity of the infection or even abortion, depend on the virulence of the strain of microorganism, the immune response of the mother and the period. The aim of this study was to analyze the results of serological, pathological and parasitological material for abortive infections with risk of vertical transmission, with emphasis on toxoplasmosis. They were invited to participate
in the study, women who miscarried and complete or incomplete, attended at two public hospitals in Goiânia, Goiás, between the period June 2008 to June 2009. Were interviewed through a questionnaire and collected blood samples and abortive material. There were immunologic tests for toxoplasmosis, Chagas disease, rubella, cytomegalovirus and syphilis and pathology in cytogenetic. 55% of women were aged 20 to 30 years of age. The majority (68%) had gestational ages ranging from 7-14th weeks. 54.3% of women had completed high school or incomplete. Regarding the
number of abortions, most women (69%) had only one abortion and minority (2.9%) were already in the fourth or fifth abortion. For the analysis of serology...

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies during the first trimester of embryonic intrauterine development. This kind of human infertility is frequent among the general population since it affects 1 to 5% of women. In half of the cases the etiology remains unelucidated. In the present study, we used interspecific recombinant congenic mouse strains (IRCS) in the aim to identify genes responsible for embryonic lethality. Applying a cartographic approach using a genotype/phenotype association, we identified a minimal QTL region, of about 6 Mb on chromosome 1, responsible for a high rate of embryonic death (similar to 30%). Genetic analysis suggests that the observed phenotype is linked to uterine dysfunction. Transcriptomic analysis of the uterine tissue revealed a preferential deregulation of genes of this region compared to the rest of the genome. Some genes from the QTL region are associated with VEGF signaling, mTOR signaling and ubiquitine/proteasome-protein degradation pathways. This work may contribute to elucidate the molecular basis of a multifactorial and complex human disorder as RSA.

Epizootic bovine abortion (EBA) is endemic in California's coastal range and the foothill regions of the Sierra Nevada, where it has been the primary diagnosed cause of abortion in beef cattle for >50 years. Investigation of these losses has defined a specific fetal syndrome characterized by late-term abortion or birth of weak or dead calves. Although the unusual clinical presentation and unique fetal pathology associated with EBA have been recognized since the 1950s, the identity of the etiologic agent is unknown. In this study, suppression-hybridization PCR was used to identify a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene of a previously undescribed bacterium in thymus tissue derived from affected fetuses. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this pathogen was a deltaproteobacterium closely related to members of the order Myxococcales. A specific PCR was subsequently developed to detect the presence of this bacterium in DNA extracted from fetal thymuses. Using histopathology as the definitive diagnosis for EBA, this PCR demonstrated 100% specificity and 88% sensitivity. The bacterium was also detected in the argasid tick Ornithodoros coriaceus, which is the recognized vector of EBA. These data imply a close association between this novel agent and the etiology of EBA.